Participants Laud British Council, Film Lab For Empowering Youths

Participants at the young film makers training have lauded the British Council and Film Lab Africa for empowering youths who are desirous of impacting the society through film making.

Some of the young film makers who produced films, contents using the smartphones were unveiled at the British Council, Ikoyi in Lagos.

They described the inclusion of smartphones for making film as another boost to move the industry into global prominence.

The National President, Association of Movie Producers of Nigeria (AMP), Amb Queen Blessing Ebigieson commended the organisers for providing a bold and veritable platform which targeted at creating jobs and opportunities for the teeming youths.

Ebigieson highlighted the essence of camera as a crucial tool for interpreting stories in film-making.

“It depends on the audience you have in mind for producing a film. With cameras, long range filming can be recorded. But in short-distance recordings, smartphone can be used because it can capture wide range of participants.

“I want to appreciate the British Council and Film Lab for this initiative that will create opportunities for the participants,” Ebigieson said.

Speaking at the event, the Alado of Ado-Awaye, Oba Ademola Olugbile Folakanmi lauded the organisers for creating the platform that will create jobs for the teeming youths.

Oba Folakanmi urged the film-makers to strive towards gaining necessary competence to adopt both the smartphone and camera in making films, noting that they both have their peculiar advantages.

One of the participants, Tolulope Odebunmi, expressed satisfaction with the training, saying it offered him the platform to learn the use of a smartphone to shoot short films.

Odebunmi however noted that smartphones alone cannot replace the use of camera, but to complement the it.

On his part, another trainee, Paul-Esupofo Oriade, stated that the camera and smartphone complement themselves in film making. “I am one of those that brought the idea of using smartphones for making film because I have tried and enjoyed its use since 2014. I can tell you that smartphone usage can go a long way in bringing more improvement, especially in evangelism filming which I am into. We are going to use it much in our forthcoming events in Ibadan, Oyo State.”

Jerome Read, for his part noted, “It depends on the type of phone. Since not all phones can be used in film making, one must get a good and functional smartphones to get the best results.”

One of the ten graduands from Film Lab Africa, Gafar Ayinde Amoo, commended the British Council for lifting up Nigerian film industry with sponsorship of 20 artists.

Artists were engaged on a 10-week training programme, after which organisers announced grants for 20 winners in the short film and microfilms categories to fund their various film projects.